From the Ruins
by NessaRosa
Summary: Touya watched as each and every member of his clan was killed. He swore to himself that he would grow stronger and, one day, avenge them. For years, that was his only goal. He didn't question it. Well, not until he met two boys that began to show him there was more to life than revenge...and brought the news that he wasn't the only Kurta left. Killua/OMC
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Wow, so, I haven't written for this fandom before and I'm a bit worried about this. I usually don't write original characters either but I had this idea as I was rewatching the show... and here we are. So I hope you enjoy it!

Prologue

Touya smiled to himself as he glanced around his secret base. He had found many new items over the last month, items that would have been confiscated instantly if the clan elders found out he had them. Yet, here they were, safely tucked away inside his own personal fortress. A fortress the rest of the clan didn't even know existed.

He let out a sigh when he glanced out of the hollow tree trunk that made up his 'base' and saw the sun low in the sky. He had spent hours here, much longer than he was usually out, and he was sure his mother had sent someone to look for him. It wasn't odd for Touya to disappear into the forest surrounding their village for hours at a time, but that didn't mean his mother liked it. She would have much rather him become friends with the other children and join in on their games. Touya wasn't exactly sure what those games were – he just knew they usually involved a lot of running and hitting each other with sticks and such.

But Touya liked to explore. He enjoyed looking at the various plant and wildlife that they shared the area with, he liked discovering the different caves and hidden streams, and, most importantly, he liked finding things that hikers and those from outside of his village left behind. He craved to know more about the outside world – the world that was forbidden to enter unless he passed the strict test by his village that proved he could keep himself in control and not endanger them in any way.

Touya, being only eight, knew he had to wait at least a couple more years until he was allowed to begin the exam. There was another boy in his village that had completed it only a couple of months ago and he was twelve – the youngest anyone had passed. Touya was going to beat that. He wanted to do it now but he knew there was no way his mother would agree. So, he would wait until he was ten before approaching the elders. Only two more years.

That didn't stop him from continuing his collection.

Touya began to move quickly through the trees and brush, knowing that the later it got, the angrier his mother would be. She might even send someone after him and that wasn't something Touya wanted to happen – many people in his clan were experienced trackers and he did not want them finding his base! He would be in so much trouble if it was discovered…

The thoughts trailed off as a chilling scream sounded throughout the forest. Touya froze, his heart pounding in his chest. That- that wasn't the sound of the children laughing or Kara-san being upset with her husband again. That was the sound of deep pain, of despair…

Touya began to run, only to skid to a halt when more screams began to echo throughout the forest. They were coming from his village – the sound of agony, of people begging….there was crying and someone laughing. It was a deep laugh, a laugh that made shivers run down Touya's spine. Dark. Possessed.

Evil.

Touya needed to see what was happening but everything in his body screamed at him to flee the situation. To get as far away as possible. But he needed to know. Using all the skills he had nurtured over the few short years of his life, skills from being in the forest daily and needing to protect and hide himself from some of the more volatile wildlife, and he silently made his way back toward the tall tree right behind him. He climbed, careful not to make any noise, and perched on one of the top branches. From there, he was able to peer through the leaves to see the village –

And he promptly pressed himself against the hard bark, his hand coming up to try and mask the sound of horror and despair that wanted to escape. He bit down on his hand in the attempt, not even noticing the blood dripping down below.

The adults of the village, those that weren't lying on the ground in a pool of blood, were all kneeling in the center of the village. Many of them were screaming and crying. Smaller bodies, bodies of the children that his mother had wanted him to befriend, were completely…decimated. Even from where he was sitting, Touya could see the blood, could see the man in black ripping skin off of one screaming child. He bit down harder as one of the women jumped to her feet in an attempt to pull the child- her child, Touya realized now – away from the man and was promptly held tight by another man that appeared behind her. Touya saw the man lean close to her ear but he could hear what was being said over the screaming. And then he saw the man reach up and press a blade against her throat.

Touya couldn't stop the sobs as he watched his people be killed, each and everyone screaming in agony. He couldn't understand what was happening or why these people were doing this…how they had even found them in the first place. Touya knew he shouldn't just hide. He was a coward. But he was terrified. The men laughed loudly and made a game out of torturing his clansman. The women… one in particular was…she was…

Touya swallowed back bile when he realized what she was doing.

She was cutting out their eyes.

He didn't know how long it lasted. He couldn't say how long he sat in the tree and watched as his people were mutilated. As some of the monsters went into each home and took whatever they considered to have value. He just sobbed into his hands silently, pressing back against the tree tightly in hopes that he wouldn't be spotted, praying that it would all be over. That it was a dream that he was going to wake up from. That none of it was real.

But it was.

He stayed in the tree the rest of the night and late into the morning. Long after the men and women had left. Long after the forest had grown silent, as if it was also mourning the loss of the people who had been at home there for so long. Touya could only stare down the village, hoping that someone, anyone, would appear. That someone besides himself had managed to escape from the brutality.

But no one ever did.

He couldn't stay there. He had to move. He had to…to do something!

He didn't want to go into the village. To see the bodies up close, to see the dark voids where their eyes should be…staring at him accusingly for not helping them. For just watching as his people were…

He closed his eyes tightly, knowing they were burning a brilliant red. He knew why those monsters had come for them. He had heard the laughter and jokes. Heard the disgusting remarks about those that didn't have the red eyes – about how useless they were. One of the men had even laughed as he said that the Kurta were supposed to be devils and dangerous but they had gone down so 'easily'.

Touya vowed to himself that if those people wanted a devil, they were going to get one. He was going to send each and every one of them straight to hell.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Not the best chapter but it's a starting place for the main story. If anyone is enjoying this at all, please let me know! :)

"You did well," Givanni said as Touya stepped into the hallway. "You've definitely grown stronger."

"I lost," Touya muttered in irritation, pushing open the door to his room. "If it happens again-"

"You've only lost twice in the past six months," Givanni rolled his eyes as he followed Touya into the room. Touya threw himself onto his bed, making sure to hide his face into the pillow. Givanni might have been someone that he could, almost, consider a friend, but he didn't know the secret Touya hid. "You aren't going to be moved down because of it. Pretty sure you'll be moved up, actually, after next week's fight-"

"Only taken me two years," Touya muttered tiredly, his body relaxing slightly despite his annoyance. He heard Givanni groan at the comment before the mattress tilted slightly as the young man sat beside him. The two had met on Touya's first day at Heaven's Arena when they were picked to fight one another. Givanni had won, easily much to Touya's shame, but the older teen had decided to take the eleven-year-old under his wing and had been training him on the side. Givanni, who had only entered Heavens Arena as some sort of deal with his parents, promptly quit once he reached the two hundredth floor and refused to tell Touya why. Despite that, he still met up with the now thirteen-year-old on occasion and he never missed one of his fights.

Touya had spent two and a half years wandering the outside world, finding work where he could as he trained in various disciplines. Since he left the village (more specifically, the tree), he had travelled from village to city, city to island, to grow stronger. He had seen the news reports almost two weeks after he left, the reports that some local hiker had wandered across the bodies of the Kurta clan… he had to drop his eyes and duck into a side alley. A hiker? He didn't believe it. The village was well hidden – or, it had been. Hidden enough that none of the hikers had found it in many years. Not to mention that those that were 'local' were afraid of the hidden clan. None of them would have purposely gotten close enough to the village to discover the bodies… not unless they already knew everyone would be dead.

It was also in that article that Touya finally was able to put a name on the people that appeared in his nightmares each and every night.

Touya knew his eyes were flaring at the thought and he kept the shut as he turned his head toward his friend. "Did you see the three new kids? They look about your age – managed to get straight to the fiftieth floor."

Touya shrugged and turned his head back toward the pillow. It wasn't exactly common for someone under the age of sixteen to sign up but it did happen occasionally. Hell, there were rumors when Touya started of a child even younger than him that had fought their way up to the two hundredth floor a few years before he arrived. But to have three join at the same time… "Do they know each other?"

"No clue," Givanni answered promptly. "But the three of them should be fighting this afternoon. Want to watch?"

Did he? Did he want to see three kids his age that jumped up to the fiftieth floor when Touya had to go the long way around? "…yes."

"Then get up, take a shower, and meet me downstairs. We'll get some lunch first," Givanni chirped, slapping a hand down on Touya's back. The younger boy groaned at the sudden flare of pain. The knock out hit from his last fight had been a kick in his back, after all. Something that Givanni surely knew.

"Ass-"

"Seriously, shower. You smell," Givanni laughed as he disappeared throughout the door. Touya pulled himself off the bed and into the bathroom. He jumped into the shower quickly before pulling on some fresh clothes. He didn't bother to glance into the mirror before heading out – he already knew what he would see. Dark, messy hair that hung into dark gray eyes, a small frame that most would consider to be weak but had hidden strength. Givannni always teased him by calling him 'elf-like' which usually resulted in a punch to the stomach from the blushing boy.

After a quick lunch, Givanni produced two tickets to see two of the kids fight. Apparently, the moderators had decided it would be fun to see two of the kids fight against one another while the third fought in another arena. Givanni had decided to choose the fight between the two kids, so here they were, sitting in the stands and waiting for the fight to start.

Touya sat up when the two boys finally made their way toward the floor. One was dressed in all white and moved as if he had years of training. The other – the other was the one that caught Touya's eye. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a black sweater, an unusual choice when you're planning on fighting. His hair could rival Touya's in the messy department, though his looked more like a planned type of messy rather than a couldn't be bothered to brush it messy. The unique color, pure silver, made Touya's eyes fall to him as soon as he walked in the door. The way he moved, completely confident and easy, like nothing could bother him, was a complete contrast to the other boy.

He knew he was going to win.

"Okay everyone! The event you've all been waiting for!" Had they really? The two had only joined this morning… "We have a unique matchup for you! Two young boys, fighting it out! However, you don't want to underestimate them! Both had strong showings in their first round! The both advanced directly to the 50s! We will now replay their matches on the big screen!"

Touya turned his attention toward the screen above him. The boy that had caught his attention, Killua, had taken out his larger opponent with one chop – he even kept one of his hands in his pocket! The other, Zushi, did traditional martial arts.

It was going to be an interesting fight.

"What do you think?" Givanni asked under his breath as the replay ended.

Touya didn't spare him a glance, "What do you mean? The kid in black is going to win."

Givanni raised his eyebrows and pressed his gamble button, along with others in the audience. Touya shook his head when he saw the odds being in favor of Zushi. Touya rolled his eyes at the incompetence of the people surrounding him. No kid his age was that confident without a reason to be. Had no one seen the way Killua had taken out that guy with one, solid hit? Yeah, it was clear that Zushi had traditional training, but Touya would place his money on the light-haired boy.

He was right.

"Told you," Touya said with a smirk as he and Givanni walked out of the arena.

"Yeah, yeah," Givanni grumbled good naturedly as he slung a heavy arm over the thin shoulders. Touya stumbled slightly at the sudden weight. "You were right. Such a surprise. Have to say, I don't think it's going to take long until we see that kid in the 100's. Little Touya's going to have a new friend!"

"Go away," Touya retorted, pushing the arm off of his shoulders.

Givanni just laughed and waved before heading toward the elevators and, presumably, to the exit. Touya rolled his eyes and moved to follow after him, coming to the elevators right as they closed. Cursing under his breath, he hit the up button to get to his own floor. He should have known that Givanni wouldn't have bothered to hold the damn thing for him.

He crossed his arms over his chest and waited impatiently for the doors to open. This far down, it was difficult to get an elevator, especially if you were trying to go up. It was worse when you were trying to go up…

He was going to be waiting here for a while.

More people were beginning to stand around him and Touya kept his eyes focused ahead of him, wondering in amusement if anyone had bothered to look and notice that the only button pushed was the one leading to the upper floors. He could feel the group growing bigger and bigger and his lips began to twitch in amusement. "Bunch of idiots," a voice muttered lowly and then a pale hand reached out to hit the down button.

Touya followed the arm up to the person that had just appeared at his side, then blinked in surprise. Oh. Deep blue eyes met Touya's briefly before pale arms were stretched up above the other boys head. "Good fight." Touya heard someone say and he blinked when those eyes met his once again and he realized that the words had come from him.

"Oh, thanks," Killua responded, raising an eyebrow and staring at Touya curiously. "You going up? Another fight to watch?"

"I live up there."

"Ah," he responded, his arms dropping to his sides and turning his attention toward Touya fully. "What floor are you on?"

"One-sixty."

"Ah, well, Gon and I will be up there soon," Killua said with a smirk.

"Gon?"

"Friend," came the response as the elevator doors slid open. Touya stepped forward, a few people following him but most staying put. As he turned, he met Killua's eyes.

"Well, I guess I'll see you and Gon later."

"Yeah, you will."


End file.
